{"id":6255,"date":"2012-01-20T08:30:42","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T12:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=6255"},"modified":"2012-01-20T08:34:42","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T12:34:42","slug":"there-aint-no-color-in-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/there-aint-no-color-in-memories","title":{"rendered":"There ain’t no color in memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

My brother’s house burned down last Sunday. He and his wife and kids got out safely, but the place was a total loss. Their insurance company is saying all the right things, in terms of rebuilding and replacing everything. I mean, inasmuch as you can replace things. A lot of stuff has sentimental value. I can’t imagine that shock of seeing everything go up in flames.\u00a0On Sunday morning, in the driveway of his home, I spoke with Boaz and he said, “You know how you wonder what you would save if your house was burning down’? Well, it turns out you make sure the kids safe and leave everything else.”<\/p>\n

Their community — their congregation, the school where my brother and his wife teach, their neighbors — has mustered an incredible show of support. Here at my office in New Jersey, a thousand miles away (they live in St. Louis), I sent a company-wide e-mail on Monday to ask for donations of clothing and such, to help out the kids (they’re 12, 9, and 11 months). I was out sick Tuesday, but when I got in Wednesday, I discovered EIGHT BAGS<\/em> of things for the girls, along with a stack of gift cards for Target and the like.<\/p>\n

(Self-absorbed aside: I hate being involved in these sort of momentous conversations with people, because I feel like I’m half-assing it when I tell the same story for the 15th time. Or I think that other co-workers might happen to hear me <\/em>re-telling it and uncover the tricks I employ for faking human emotion when I talk. Also, I might cry when I think about my nieces having to escape from the house without even getting their socks and shoes on, on a cold Sunday morning.<\/em><\/p>\n

But it’s wonderful that so many people who’ve never even met my brother or his family turned out to help support them during this time. I’m really touched by it, especially because I don’t come from an extended family and have to rely on friends and human kindness in a time of need. I’m sure I’ll say this to them in a way that sounds completely insincere and glib.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Amy & I are heading out for a visit next week. We’d booked the trip in December, so it’s not like we’re dropping everything to race out there. (Although I think I would have done that, depending on how bad the airlines would gouge us for tickets.) We’ll try to raise the kids’ spirits a little, take ’em shopping, show ’em some love, and otherwise try to help the family any way we can.<\/p>\n

I’ll write or podcast more about this later. For now, I just advise you to make sure you have couple of fire-escape routes, keep off-site backups of all your important computer files, and maybe put together an emergency pack of important stuff that you can quickly grab on the way out.<\/p>\n

For my part, I’m trying to figure out the logistics of getting two panicked 80-lb. greyhounds out of a second floor balcony, if we’re ever caught in that predicament.<\/p>\n

To end on a cheerier note, here’s a pic of the greys in question, cuting it up:<\/p>\n

\"dogsbodies\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My brother’s house burned down last Sunday. He and his wife and kids got out safely, but the place was a total loss. Their insurance company is saying all the right things, in terms of rebuilding and replacing everything. I mean, inasmuch as you can replace things. A lot of stuff has sentimental value. I … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “There ain’t no color in memories”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1CT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1587,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/visitation","url_meta":{"origin":6255,"position":0},"title":"Visitation","author":"Gil","date":"July 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"My family (my brother, his wife and their two kids) just concluded a two-week visit here. Given the amount of running around this sorta trip entails, and the fact that the kids are 4 and 7, I hesitate to call it a vacation. We had a 4th birthday party for\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/visitation#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6033,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/who-am-i-16","url_meta":{"origin":6255,"position":1},"title":"Who Am I?","author":"Gil","date":"June 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm the guy who spoke to three people today: my wife, the cashier at the Baja Express on Rt. 23, and the communications director at a major pharmaceutical company, who called to let me know that the person I interviewed at her company 3 weeks ago for a 2-page feature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1070,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/smile","url_meta":{"origin":6255,"position":2},"title":"Smile!","author":"Gil","date":"August 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Pix from our Seaside Heights trip yesterday with my brother, his wife, and their two kids! Writeup to follow (it may be a doozy)!","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/smile#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1508,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/trees-company","url_meta":{"origin":6255,"position":3},"title":"Tree’s company","author":"Gil","date":"May 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Amy pointed out that my fallen tree photos from yesterday didn't give much perspective on just how big that thing is\/was, so we shot some more this morning: I call it \"Tree's Lounge\"! Get it? Anyway, here's the full set. I busted out the hacksaw this morning to clear out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "suburbs"","block_context":{"text":"suburbs","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/suburbs"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0922.JPG","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/207\/501931854_035d612fb5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4428,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/the-deerest-yard","url_meta":{"origin":6255,"position":4},"title":"The Deerest Yard","author":"Gil","date":"August 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Open the front door, enjoy the post-tropical storm weather, and . . . stalk a deer! Click through him for the silly-ass photoset. You'll even meet his wife and kids.","rel":"","context":"In "suburbs"","block_context":{"text":"suburbs","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/suburbs"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2421\/3870526353_c667532227.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16052,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-538-john-kropf","url_meta":{"origin":6255,"position":5},"title":"Episode 538 – John Kropf","author":"Gil","date":"May 9, 2023","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 538: John Kropf \"Coloring with crayons is a near-universal experience. Just about everyone can remember opening that first box of crayons and getting that crayon-high from that waxy smell.\" With his new book, COLOR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD (University of Akron Press), John W. 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